Homemade doenjang

Step 1: Rinse 1 ⅛ lb dried yellow soybeans and soak them in plenty of cold water for 12 hours, until doubled in size with smooth, unwrinkled skins.

Step 2: Drain, cover with fresh water by 5 cm and bring to the boil, skimming the foam. Simmer, partly covered, for 3–4 hours, topping up with boiling water, until a bean crushes easily between your thumb and fourth finger and has turned light tan. (A pressure cooker takes about 40 minutes.)

Step 3: Drain well and mash the beans while hot with a potato masher or in a mortar until mostly crushed, with a few halves left.

Step 4: Press the mash firmly into one brick about 18 × 12 × 6 cm, squeezing out air pockets and smoothing the surface; cracks and holes let mould in.

Step 5: Dry the brick on a rack in a warm, airy room for 2–4 days, turning it daily, until the surface is dry and firm. Then tie it with clean rice straw or a cotton mesh bag or put it in a mesh bag and hang it in an airy place at 15–77°F for 4–8 weeks.

Step 6: Check the meju weekly. A white to pale-yellow fuzzy bloom and a sweet, nutty, slightly musty smell are normal. Discard the brick if you see black, pink or green fuzz, wet slimy patches, or it smells putrid or strongly of ammonia. It is ready when it is hard right through, much lighter, and sounds hollow when tapped.

Step 7: Brush the surface under cold running water with a soft brush to remove loose bloom, then let it dry on a rack for a day.

Step 8: Sterilise a 4-litre glass jar or onggi: wash in hot soapy water, rinse, then dry glass in a 250°F oven for 10 minutes, or scald an onggi with boiling water and dry it in the sun.

Step 9: Stir 14 oz coarse sea salt into 2 litres water, boiled and cooled until completely dissolved, then let any grit settle. This is a strong brine of about 17% salt; do not reduce the salt, it is what keeps the ferment safe.

Step 10: Put the meju in the jar and pour the clear brine over it; it will float, which is normal. Add 3 dried red chillies, 4 dried jujubes (red dates) and, if using, 1 piece of hardwood lump charcoal (held in a gas flame until it glows red, then cooled). Cover with a cloth, then the lid.

Step 11: Leave for 40–60 days, taking the lid off on sunny days and closing it at night and in rain. The brine turns dark brown and smells of soy sauce; a thin flat white film can be skimmed off. Fuzzy coloured mould or a rotten smell mean it has spoiled: discard everything.

Step 12: Lift the softened meju into a clean bowl. Strain the liquid through a cloth into a pot and boil it for 20 minutes, skimming, to make soup soy sauce; cool and bottle it for the fridge.

Step 13: Mash the meju with 1 tbsp coarse sea salt and enough of the soy liquid to make a thick, wet-sand paste. Pack it firmly into a clean dry jar, pressing out air, and scatter 1 tbsp coarse sea salt over the top.

Step 14: Cover with a cloth and lid and let it ripen in a sunny, airy spot for at least 2–3 months (6 months is better), lid off on fine days. Then keep it in the fridge for up to 2 years, always using a clean dry spoon, and discard it if fuzzy coloured mould or a putrid smell appears.